Sermon for Septuagesima
"The Kingdom of Heaven is like..."
Our Lord says these words
several times,
but He usually goes on
to compare the Kingdom of Heaven
to something that doesn't
seem to make sense.
The Kingdom.of Heaven
is like workers working in a vineyard.
But it's also like a grain of mustard seed.
It's like leaven in bread dough,
treasure in a field,
a merchant man seeking goodly pearls,
a net cast into the sea,
a householder with treasures old and new,
and a marriage for the King's son.
Eight times Our Lord
tells us what
the Kingdom of God
is like
and all only in
St Matthew's Gospel.
We hear Our Lord
describe a situation
in a parable
nut leaves us looking
for where the Kingdom of Heaven
actually is.
Look at this parable
of the vineyard,
we see the labourers
some come at the beginning
of the day
agree a fair price
and start work.
We see some labourers
coming in the middle of the day
even at the eleventh hour
and getting the same wages.
This is what
the Kingdom of God is like,
but it's a struggle to see
where it is.
[PAUSE]
We can see the King,
that's clearly the owner
of the vineyard.
But who are his subjects?
The labourers?
Does that mean
that the Kingdom.of Heaven
contains people
who are invited in
to do some work
for wages?
Does that mean
that the Kingdom of Heaven
contains people
who complain about
how much they are being paid?
That doesn't ring true
with the idea of
the Kingdom of Heaven
being a place of everlasting joy.
In this parable,
we see the king
but where are his subjects?
[PAUSE]
Perhaps we're looking
at the wrong thing.
We have an idea
of there being eternal joy
and bliss
in the Kingdom of Heaven,
but perhaps
in these eight parables,
these eight ways of saying
what the Kingdom of God is like
we aren't actually looking at it
like a place on a map.
We aren't looking about
who is the king
and where is his castle
and what the Lord Chamberlain
had for breakfast.
Perhaps these parables
are more about
how Our Lord
governs His Kingdom.
[PAUSE]
This makes sense
for this parable of the vineyard.
The focus is not
on the labourers
it's on the fact that
the Owner gives
the same fair wage
to those who came late.
It's about his fairness
(no one gets diddled)
and his generosity
(he can use his money how he likes).
This is what we can expect
the Kingdom of Heaven
to be like.
The generosity of God
is so great
that it is scandalous
to those
who have a worldly way
of thinking.
The invitation for us
to enter Kingdom is there
and our work for that Kingdom
will not go unrewarded.
It is interesting to note
that only those
who complain about their wage
get told to go their way.
In refusing to see generosity
and accepting that
this is the way things are,
they find themselves
out if the vineyard
with their wage
but none of the appreciation
of the Owner's willingness
to give good things.
[PAUSE]
God shows us
how He rules His kingdom.
He shows us the terms
that we can expect
and the price of entry,
but also how warm it is,
how full of love and joy.
We accept it
on His terms,
not ours.
He is King
after all,
and Who is like Him?
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